Often Nariah will rely on her friends for support. Her school offers counseling and she said that has helped a little but others that have experienced the same loss are much better at understanding her she said.
Nariah Andino moved towards her dad who was being loaded onto the back of the ambulance after being shot on the street outside his home. As she moved closer to him she heard him struggle out the words, “go away.”
On Dec. 23, 2019, at approximately 11:30 p.m., 33-year-old Rene J. Andino received multiple gunshot wounds on Richelieu Street, Springfield, Mass., while making his way from his car to his girlfriend’s house less than 100 meters away on Oswego Street where his two daughters, 12-year-old Nariah and her younger sister 5-year-old Madison Andino, were sleeping at the time.
Gun crime in Massachusetts is much lower than other states in the US, Springfield still has a high homicide by firearm rate in comparison to other cities in Western Massachusetts.
According to the Pew Research Center, three-quarters of all U.S. murders in 2017 – 14,542 out of 19,510 – involved a firearm. Of those shootings 262 were in Mass.
Springfield recorded 18 firearm related deaths last year, which is a three-year high. There were 14 homicides in Springfield in 2017, 12 in 2016, and 18 in 2015. Since 2010, Springfield has averaged nearly 16 homicides a year.
With every homicide there is a family that will have to cope with the loss of a family member.
Madison was sleeping off a fever and was asleep when Nariah heard three loud, “pops,” that woke her. She describes them as sounding like roadworks outside.
As she moved towards the front-door of the apartment, her father’s girlfriend ran in saying, “your dad got shot, your dad got shot.”
As she peered out the window, she saw a dark figure on the street.
Reality dawned on her that her dad had been shot and no matter how desperate she was to run out and make sure he was ok, she worried that the people who did this were still there.
“I just ran back upstairs, and I put all my clothes on,” said Nariah. “I called my mom from my stepsisters’ phone and told her what [had] happened. I told her, “Daddy got shot, come pick me up,” because the only thing I could do I couldn't do anything else to help him.”
Nariah so desperately wanted to help her father but the only thing she could do was tell another adult and hope they could do more for him than she could.
Elizabeth Sanchez, Nariah’s mom, arrived shortly after the police and went straight over to Nariah.
Walking around Walmart, Wanda Pierce, Nariah’s paternal grandmother was shopping for supplies for the holiday celebrations they would be having at her home over Christmas.
Pierce was still in mourning over the loss of her 18-year partner Brian Parker Sr. would passed on Nov. 8, just weeks before her son was shot.
“I told [Andino] this is a good time to go because it's nice and quiet is not a lot of people in the store,” said Pierce. “I can get in get out, I had to buy the ham. While I was in Walmart they killed my son.”
Reception in the store wasn't good and once her phone started to pick up signal she received a flurry of messages informing her of the ominous news.
“My mom was trying to hold me and take me to the car, but I would not let her. I ran up to the body and [asked the paramedics if] he's going to be okay,” said Nariah. “They were like, 'I don't know. I don't know.'”
At that point she knew he wouldn’t be ok, but she refused to cry, realizing that at this moment she needed to be strong, just like her dad.
“He didn’t want me to see him like that,” said Nariah. Her emotions overcame her and a wave of, “fear, anger, [and] hatred all came at once.”
Nariah and Andino were extremely close as a father and daughter would be, and they used to spend time together fishing and walking in the woods where he would show her the tree house he built when he was Nariah’s age.
She speaks fondly of the time he took her to see the tree house and she sometimes goes back to the spot to be alone.
“He wouldn't want me to still be depressed and sad over what happened.,” said Nariah. “And now this is my time, to become a better person. [To] become something that he always wanted me to become.”
Nariah is the only student that William R. Peck Middle School Guidance Counselor Alaina Fox is aware of that actually witnessed gun violence.
“But we do have several other students who have had traumatic passing of their parents,” said Fox. “I think in our students who have had traumatic experiences, we generally see a higher level of needs and behavioral issues and acting out or things like that.”
A few weeks after Nariah’s father passed away, she went to see a therapist at the River Valley Counseling Center who spoke with her.
RVCC partners with local school districts to provide mental health counseling during the school day.
“I had a therapist to talk to about it,” said Nariah. “She would give me advice, but I want[ed] somebody to understand how I feel [that] can relate to me and the only person I can relate to me is this one friend I have.”
According to Nariah, one of her school friends also lost a parent in similar circumstances and hadn’t confided in anyone until Nariah spoke about what had happened with her dad.
“When she told me that, me and her got real close,” said Nariah. “We just started sharing our emotions [and] our feelings and she really helped me through it a lot.”
Nariah has been suffering from anger issues and has trouble controlling her temper at school where it sometimes boils over and gets her into trouble.
“[Children] who have experienced trauma like Nariah is that impulsivity and [they] really struggle to manage their emotions, manage [their] emotional response to things because their triggers are so severe,” said William R. Peck Middle School Principal Sarita Graveline. “We’ll see a lot of explosive behavior a lot of sort of like that flight or fight response.”
Nariah sits in her math class after returning from a day’s suspension for fighting another student who spoke of her father in a disrespectful way.
“Some people and I had people come up to me and say you write your dad passed away. I'm just like. How you gonna ask me that?” said Nariah. “One of my teachers came up to me and be like, “Nariah I know why you better calm down before I call your dad,” and I just like. “What did you just say? Like, why would you say something like that? Even though they don't know like it still hurts me.”
Holidays have become especially hard for her with the memories on days like Father’s Day when she sees all her friends out with their dad’s.
“Me just not having no one to celebrate it with just changed me,” she said.
Nariah spends the weekends with her grandmother, Pierce, at her home in Springfield and often takes the girls out for treats.
Pierce speaks of her motivation for getting out of bed in the mornings being her family and especially her grandchildren.
“It's really hard to keep everything in perspective. You know, sometimes all I want is to give up, it’s so hard,” said Pierce through tears. “But I can't because he's not here, and who’s gonna help take care of his girls.”
This Halloween Pierce took Nariah and Madison to the Holyoke mall to buy costumes for the festivities and wants to show her grandchildren normality with the anniversary just around the corner.
Nariah is actively trying to process the loss, and comes across as a strong and mature young woman whose focus is to help her family cope. However, the time of year makes it especially hard.
“I used to love Christmas. Christmas was my favorite time of the year, but ever since he wasn't there to share with me, I see everybody depressed and not happy just had a big effect on me,” said Naria. “I thought, this isn't the Christmas I remember.”
Medical Director of the Children's Psychological Health Center Gilbert Kliman estimates that 5 percent of children in the US, 1.5 million, lose one or both parents by age 15. The proportion is substantially higher in lower socioeconomic groups.
Andino wanted to be a cop when he was younger and worked for a short time as a security guard. Due to a previous conviction he couldn’t join and over the last 3 to 4 years he started to deal drugs according to Sanchez.
“[He] always said it was so he had enough to invest.” Sanchez said.
There are no records of any convictions over the last decade and the police are not aware of any links to west coast gangs according to Springfield police spokesperson Ryan Walsh.
Most of the family believe that this had nothing to do with his death and are still clueless as to why anyone would want to harm him.
So far there have been no arrests but Pierce religiously calls the police each week to see if there are any updates.
The answers are still out there and the family are searching for closure. Part of the pain is the not knowing why he was killed.
“I thought I would never move on from this and I’m still not gonna move on from it,” said Nariah. “But only time is going to make me feel better. I’m not gonna hurt forever.”
On Dec. 23, 2018, police responded to a ShotSpotter activation in the area of Oswego and Richelieu streets at approximately 11:30 p.m. Andino suffered from multiple gunshot wounds.
Nariah sings 'Hero' by Mariah Carey. It was a song that she and her father used to love and sing to when he was alive.
Frank Andino shows a picture of himself (center) and brothers Rene Andino (right) on the same jacket that he bought Rene Andino on the day he was shot.
Often Nariah will rely on her friends for support. Her school offers counseling and she said that has helped a little but others that have experienced the same loss are much better at understanding her she said.
Wanda always wears the bracelet that her son bought for Christmas.
Having lost her common law husband and son within weeks of each other Wanda Pierce tries to stay strong for her family, especially her granddaughters Nariah and Madison.
Nariah Andino, 12, and Madison Andino, 5, goes halloween shopping with her grandmother, Wanda Pierce in the Holyoke mall. She wants to be a fallen angel.